


Unions and Reunions

by holdyourbreathfornow



Series: Family of Three [1]
Category: Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Benrey isn't actually bad, Black Mesa took Gordon when he was a kid and erased his memories, Bubby and Coomer are Gordon's dads, Crying, Family Reunions, Gen, Implied vomiting, Joshua is Gordon's first name, Multi, So did Gordon and Benrey, Tommy and Gordon knew each other as kids, cursing, just to clear that up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26392753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdyourbreathfornow/pseuds/holdyourbreathfornow
Summary: The first time Bubby and Coomer get to meet their son, he's barely able to stay awake for five minutes and can fit in their cradled arms.Years later, when they finally see him again, he's taller than both of them and has no memory of them whatsoever.
Relationships: Benrey/Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman (implied), Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Gordon Freeman & Bubby, Gordon Freeman & Dr. Coomer
Series: Family of Three [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918150
Comments: 51
Kudos: 482





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I explained some of this AU in the tags. Hopefully it's not too confusing. Hope you enjoy!

Joshua was in the middle of taking a nap the first time his tube was opened. Bubby had been planning to wait until the baby woke up, but his resolve had shattered when he saw Harold gently tracing the round shape of Joshua’s face through the glass. He was determined for his husband to hold their son, god dammit. 

Joshua hadn’t even woken up when Bubby pulled him out of the tube, but he started to when Harold gently began rocking him in his arms. His tiny nose scrunched up and he blinked his eyes open. They were the same startlingly bright shade of emerald as Harold’s, and Harold chuckled lowly when he saw.

“Hello, Joshua.” He whispered, sliding one knuckle softly over the soft skin of Joshua’s cheek. The baby yawned and squirmed, one hand reaching up to try and wrap around Harold’s thick finger.

“Your fingers are bigger than his whole hand.” Bubby grinned and Harold looked up at him, eyes bright.

“Why are you standing all the way over there?” He asked. “Come here and say hello.”

The distance between Bubby and Harold stretched dizzyingly, and Bubby felt as if he was rooted in place.

“What-what if he’s scared?”

“Of what?” Harold tore his gaze away from Joshua, looking at Bubby, confused.

“ME-” Bubby cut himself off, straining to stay quiet. “ _ Me _ , Harold!”

“Come here.” Bubby hesitated and Harold arched a bushy eyebrow at him. “I’m serious, Bubby, come here.” Bubby sighed but did as Harold asked, walking until he was looking down at- At their son. Little Joshua. He was so tiny, and he looked like he was having trouble staying awake, eyes drooping closed and little yawns breaking free. “Okay, hold him.”

“Harold-!” Bubby almost panicked when Harold set Joshua in his arms, but his brain didn’t let him. Subconsciously, his arms cradled Joshua close. The baby had woken back up during the transfer, and Bubby lifted him a little higher, pressing a kiss to Joshua’s fuzzy head. “Hi there, fuzzhead.”

“Your papa’s probably going to call you a variety of names over the years.” Harold muttered and Bubby grinned. Joshua nuzzled his head into Bubby’s chest, falling asleep quickly and even starting to snore.

“Oh, he’s definitely your son.” Bubby whispered to Harold, who scoffed in mock anger before the little family quietly filed out of the tube room and towards the nursery they’d made for their son.


	2. Chapter 2

Benrey had their head leaning on Gordon’s shoulder and he didn’t seem inclined to dislodge them anytime soon. They’d been through enough, breaking through the nihilanth’s possession and purposefully losing the fight. Tommy had a lot more energy than either of them, and he’d been bouncing between playing arcade games and sitting with the two of them, rambling on and letting Gordon and Benrey interject occasionally.

Bubby and Coomer sat apart from them a little ways, leaning against each other exhaustedly.

“We’re getting too old for this.” Bubby muttered grumpily and Coomer laughed, but he seemed… Distracted. “Harold? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Harold wouldn’t meet Bubby’s eye, looking around the Chuck E Cheese’s. “Just a silly old man making himself sad.” After a moment of hesitation, Bubby turned to press a kiss into Coomer’s hair.

“I’ll be sad with you if you want me to.” He told Coomer, and the shorter man sighed. “And if not-”

“I always wanted to bring him here.” Coomer looked at Bubby out of the corner of his eye before his gaze darted away again. “Back when this place was in its prime.” It took Bubby a second to connect the dots, but eventually-

“Ah.” Suddenly, everything around them seemed to take on a new light. Bubby could picture the place crowded with kids, shrieking and shouting. He imagined himself wading through the crowds with Joshua’s tiny hand carefully held in his own.

“Papa, Papa, I wanna play a game!” Bubby’s son would’ve said and Bubby would smile indulgently (indulgent, he would’ve given Joshua the moon if he could, but he can’t and it still fucking hurts, still steals his breath right out of his lungs) and ask what game he wanted to play. Joshua would look up at him, clasping onto his trouser leg, and he’d say-

“Do you wanna play air hockey with me?” Gordon stood where he absolutely hadn’t been a second ago and Bubby startled. Gordon held his hands up apologetically. 

“Why are you asking?” Bubby squinted suspiciously and Gordon chewed on his lip nervously. 

“Never mind, forget it, I’ll just-” He turned away and Bubby stood, Coomer watching him follow after.

“Wait a fucking minute!” Gordon turned back to Bubby, and Bubby found himself at a loss for words. “What about your arm?” Gordon looked down to the fancy prosthetic he’d gotten and then back to Bubby.

“I don’t… Blame you for this.” said Gordon. He clapped his flesh hand onto Bubby’s shoulder gently. “Bubby, you and Benrey were in the same boat. You didn’t know the military men… Weren’t what they seemed.” Gordon took a shaky breath in and Bubby lifted one hand, gently laying it over the hand Gordon still had on his shoulder. “Would you still have done it if you knew?”

“Of course not!” Bubby hissed angrily and Gordon laughed, taking his hand off Bubby’s shoulder and stepping back.

“Just like Coomer. He couldn’t control what his clones did. They weren’t him, so I don’t blame him.”

“Makes sense.” Bubby nodded and Gordon laughed. 

“But, man, if you really wanna make it up to me, you could always let me win at air hockey.”  
  


“Oh, no chance in Hell.” Bubby grinned, sharp teeth on full display, and Gordon rolled his eyes, though the usual level of exasperation in the gesture seemed to be tempered with something almost resembling… Fondness.

Together, the two men turned and walked towards the air hockey table, almost pressed shoulder to shoulder.

-

Coomer knew he couldn’t let the what ifs and could’ve beens drag him down. The destruction of Black Mesa meant that he and Bubby had to say goodbye to their last chances of finding out what had happened to Josua.

The barely legible paper Benrey had hesitantly shown him about Gordon… He’d cried so much as a kid, and the researchers had thought he’d been crying for his parents. Coomer wondered if Gordon had ever seen Joshua in the bowels of Black Mesa, among the other child experiments, crying out for Coomer and Bubby and his warm bed with the galaxy patterned bed sheets-

“Issss thisss a. Bad time?” An unexpected voice snapped Coomer from his spiraling thoughts and he glanced up.

G-Man stood in front of him, as stiff and awkward as ever. It brought a smile to Coomer’s face, seeing something so familiar.

“Hello, G. Would you like to sit?”

“I… Have something rather. Urgent.” In a blink, G-Man held a manila folder brimming with papers in his outstretched hand. He stared at Coomer, unblinking, until Coomer reached out and took the folder.

“What is this?” Coomer asked and G-Man tilted his head.

“Infor...Mation. About Joshua.” G-Man almost seemed apologetic. “I took every...Thing I could before. Black Mesa was destroyed.”

“Oh.” Stunned, Coomer took the folder from G-Man, but he found he couldn’t even bring himself to open it. “Wh-what does it say?”

“Would you… Like me to fetch Bubby?” G-Man asked and Coomer nodded, hand tightening on the folder until his knuckles were white. G-Man watched silently before blinking away.

-

“I thought you said you weren’t letting me win!” Gordon laughed as the buzzer blared again. Bubby glared at him across the table and bared his teeth.

“You’re fucking cheating somehow! So knock it off!”

“I’m not doing shit!” Gordon’s cheeks hurt from how wide his smile was, but it fell when G-Man blinked into existence next to Bubby, whispering in his ear and the two of them looked back towards Coomer. “Is… Everything alright?” Gordon asked and G-Man stayed standing next to the table as Bubby walked back to Coomer.

“I gave them… Well, maybe what they. Feared the most. But also needed. Newsssss about your family isssss… Alwaysss hard to receive.” He focused on Gordon once again and narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly. “You know. That your son doesn’t exist. The photo. Why did you… Lie?”

“The picture…” Gordon swallowed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “It has ‘Joshua’ written on the back. And Black Mesa gave it to me but my name’s Gordon. I thought… Maybe he was the next test they started using my DNA?” He exhaled sharply and locked eyes with G-Man, who seemed almost… Shaken. “But that’s not right, is it?”

“Your eyes… Are very green.” G-Man told Gordon, who tilted his head at the eldritch being in confusion. 

“What the fuck does that have to do with ANYTHING?” He snapped and G-Man shook his head, turning his back to Gordon.

“I’m sure… Answers will be given to you soon.”

-

“I can’t.” Coomer gasped and pressed the folder into Bubby’s hands. “I don’t want to know. G said… It’s Josh’s paperwork.” He choked on a sob and Bubby sat down across from Coomer heavily.

“Did he read it?” Bubby asked even as he pulled the folder towards him and Coomer shook his head.

“I don’t-” a broken inhale, rattling as it passed in and out, “I don’t think so. Bubby, you don’t-”

“I’ll read it.” Bubby looked up and locked eyes with Coomer. “I… I have to.”

“I know.” Wordlessly, Coomer stretched one hand across the table and Bubby laced his fingers through Coomer’s as he flipped the folder open.

The two sat there for what felt like hours, Coomer focusing on getting his rabbiting heartbeat under control as Bubby’s eyes scrolled over lines of bland, impersonal medical jargon about their son. Finally, he found the last entry in the folder. He didn’t remember crying, but the plastic of the table was dotted with moisture and Coomer was watching him closely.

“The last one.” Bubby murmured and Coomer nodded. Bubby cleared his throat and began to read.

_“Chemical batch 15 has worked wonderfully, but it’s absolutely destroyed Subject JCF-07’s childhood memories. We can use this, though. He’ll be much more willing to cooperate if he only knows the facility as his caretakers. Dr. Montobar believes we should give him a new name and file the old file away, starting a new one. I think that’s a touch overkill but a new name’s already been picked-”_

“Bubby?” Coomer squeezed his hand but Bubby was unresponsive. He stared at the sheet in front of him, blank with shock. “Bubby, what did they name him?”

“G-” Bubby gagged and ripped his hand from Coomer’s, standing from the table and fleeing to the bathroom. Coomer watched him go and then, in a frenzy, grabbed the folder and pulled it towards him. His eyes skipped to the bottom and he felt the blood drain from his face.

_“Gordon Freeman.”_

G-Man gently pulled the file out from under Coomer’s trembling hands.

“Did you know?”

“No.” G-Man tucked the file under his arm and laid a heavy hand on Coomer’s shoulder. “I will… Talk to him. You two must do. Your best to compose yourselvesssss.” Coomer breathed out, one long, harsh note, and hid his face in his hands.

-

“Yooooo, the gramps are havin’-” Benrey paused to smack his lips obnoxiously. “Mental breakdown momence.” Gordon turned to look and saw that Coomer’s face was hidden in his hands. He was about to go over and try to ask what was wrong when G-Man walked up to the table. He set a folder down in front of Gordon, nodding to his son.

“Mr. Freeman, I think. It would be in your… Best interest to read these paperssssss.”

“Uh, okay?” He took them then looked up at G-Man. “Does this have something to do with what we talked about earlier? My family?”

“In… A way.” G-Man blinked away and Gordon stared down at the folder.

“It-it’s okay, Gordon.” Tommy tapped his finger on the table and Benrey leaned on Gordon’s shoulder. “We’ll be right- if you need us, just tell us.”

“Yeah.” Gordon took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay.”

-

Years ago, in a little house in the New Mexico desert, Joshua Coomer took his first steps, from one father’s arms into another pair. Both of his fathers had cheered and he had cooed warmly, soft skin squished as triumphant kisses were pressed to it. He was happy, loved, and watched over.

Gordon Freeman, alone for all of his life until he met the Science Team, rocketed to his feet and pushed his way out of the booth. 

Bubby and Coomer, having been watching him, met him halfway, the group standing in the middle of the dining area of an almost-empty Chuck E Cheese’s.

As soon as he stopped, Gordon took a deep breath, but he instantly choked on it as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Oh Gordon…” Coomer murmured and Gordon let himself be pulled down into a hug. He hid his face in Coomer’s shoulder and his hands fisted in Coomer’s sweater.

“They told me-” He was sobbing at this point, and almost being crushed by Coomer’s hug. “They told me no one wanted me.”

“They were lying.” Bubby hugged his husband and his son, the three rearranging into a loose circle. “You were the best thing about our lives and we wanted you so damn much, Gordon. Joshua. Whatever you fucking want to be called, I don’t care.”

“I like ‘Gordon’.” He chuckled wetly, swiping at the tears still pouring down his face. “Though, um, maybe I could take the ‘Coomer’ part?”

“Of course.” Coomer beamed and hugged his son again. “Anything you want.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Bubby told him, pulling his own glasses off to rub at his own damp eyes. “Together.”

“Okay.” Gordon smiled and leaned into the hug once again. “That sounds perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions, come say hi over on my Tumblr: holdyourbreathfornow  
> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Polaris-bound](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26526865) by [IspeltEclipsewrong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IspeltEclipsewrong/pseuds/IspeltEclipsewrong)




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